1. Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to a fabric treatment process and, more particularly, to a technique for the solvent embossing of carpet.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Pile carpets presenting an embossed appearance were originally made by weaving a pile carpet fabric with tufts of uniform height and thereafter cutting certain of the tufts or pile yarns by hand to desired design or pattern, or, alternately, they were woven with pile yarns of different heights by means of specially equipped looms, such as Wilton looms, with special jacquard or pile wire mechanisms. These methods and the equipment required were slow, costly, and required specialized skills.
Various attempts have been made to create an embossed pattern effect on tufted pile carpet material by less expensive equipment and processes. Thus, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,723,937, it has been proposed to apply adhesive to the pile of a carpet material and then subject the pile of the carpet to compacting by heated rollers in a desired design pattern. It has also been proposed in U. S. Pat. No. 3,567,548 to impart an embossed design appearance to carpet and other pile fabric material by printing the surface of the carpet in the desired pattern with a solvent material which may contain adhesive. Thereafter, the fabric is subjected to dry heat and to compacting and finally to relofting of the pile elements. These prior art attempts to obtain an embossed pattern effect in tufted carpet material by means of a solvent and/or adhesive have proven to be generally unsatisfactory and had many shortcomings. Thus, where adhesive is employed in connection with compacting of the pile yarns to attain a sculptured or embossed effect, various chemicals, such as dry cleaning fluids along with abrasion, serve to release a certain portion of the compacted pile yarns, thus destroying the desired embossed design appearance or destroying or spoiling the uniformly sculptured appearance thereof. When an attempt is made to attain the desired sculptured or embossed design appearance by means of solvents, it is difficult to obtain a uniformly embossed appearance or an aesthetically acceptable appearance, particularly to the desired depth of embossing to present the proper sculptured appearance.
It has also been proposed to treat the entire face surface of a tufted carpet material with a dilute solution of a solvent so as to impart the desired bonded finish to the face fibers as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,053,609. However, no pattern embossed effect is obtained by means of this procedure.
Materials other than carpet materials have been also treated with various solvents and adhesive to obtain various effects, but these various processes and treatments do not present the same problems as are encountered in creating an embossed pattern effect on tufted carpet material. Thus, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,110,866, relatively light-weight upholstery or decorative pile fabric having tufted face surface yarns made of animal fibers, such as wool or mohair, are treated with a relatively dilute solution or paste to shrink the animal fibers. However, the process disclosed in the above patent cannot practically be employed to create a satisfactory embossed pattern effect on all tufted carpet material, particularly on all tufted carpet material in which the face yarns are made of synthetic materials.
In U.S. Pat. Nos. 705,977 and 1,980,191, a decorative pile fabric such as an upholstery fabric is treated with a solvent so as to completely destroy the fibers in the treated areas, and the destroyed fibers are then removed by brushing. The processes disclosed in these patents would not be applicable to tufted carpet material to produce the desired sculptured design effect and the complete destruction of the pile yarns in the treated areas would, for most purposes, destroy the desired embossed appearance and the utility of the product.
In addition to the foregoing, plain non-pile fabrics have also been treated in selected areas with various solvents to impart a wrinkled or seersucker appearance to the fabric as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,505,000 and British Pat. No. 544,820, accepted Apr. 28, 1942. The treatment disclosed in these patents is quite unsuited for a tufted carpet material since a crinkled or seersucker effect would prevent the carpet from lying smoothly or evenly on the floor and since it would not give the desired sculptured or embossed effect to the tufted pile face.